Who is each tool for?
Datadog Metrics
Enterprises needing scalable metrics with extensive integrations
Elasticsearch (ELK)
Organizations needing powerful full-text search and log analytics
Pros and Cons
Datadog Metrics
Pros
- 700+ out-of-box integrations
- Powerful anomaly detection
- Excellent visualization options
- Seamless cloud provider integration
Cons
- Can become expensive at scale
- Custom metrics pricing adds up
- Vendor lock-in concerns
Elasticsearch (ELK)
Pros
- Powerful full-text search
- Highly scalable architecture
- Rich ecosystem (ELK Stack)
- Flexible schema and queries
Cons
- Resource-intensive operation
- Complex cluster management
- Licensing changes caused concerns
Feature Comparison
Pricing
Datadog Metrics
From $15/host/mo
Pricing varies by data volume and features. Contact Datadog Metrics for a custom quote.
Elasticsearch (ELK)
Free / Cloud from $95/mo
Pricing varies by data volume and features. Contact Elasticsearch (ELK) for a custom quote.
Our Verdict
Both Datadog Metrics and Elasticsearch (ELK) are excellent observability platforms. Datadog Metrics edges ahead with a score of 9.2/10, particularly excelling in APM and Infrastructure Monitoring.